Dell implementation of secureboot/uefi

Arguably this is not an hardware issue but I didn't know where to post it, if here or in the installation section. I have to buy a new notebook as my old one has died during the holidays. My choice is an inspiron 15r from dell, but since all pcs come with windows 8 preinstalled nowadays, I wanted to ask if somebody knows anything about dell's secure boot and how well it plays with linux. I assume it is possible to disable it, since it should be a requirement for x86(-64) pcs, right? The technical support wasn't quite able to give me an answer...

Re: Dell implementation of secureboot/uefi

If it's anything like the Inspirons we have at my workplace , you have three boot options, and the ability to switch between them at boot time (by pressing F12). They are:

Legacy boot, no SecureBoot

UEFI boot, no SecureBoot

UEFI boot, with SecureBoot (default)

Our current practice (I work at a University) is to switch to Legacy boot mode, wipe the disk, and install Windows 7. If you want to keep Win 8, I imagine that you could just disable SecureBoot, shrink some partitions, install Linux, and install a UEFI- compatible bootloader.

Re: Dell implementation of secureboot/uefi

Thanks for the info. I am currently thinking about what to do when my pc gets delivered. Sure, going to legacy mode and just wipe the worse os ever (aka win8) may be the easiest solution, but since we are all gonna need to get used to uefi maybe i'll just keep it. I wonder if configuring a bootloader (grub or other) i can replace windows 8 with a 7 (not really needed, i could as well never boot windows).

Re: Dell implementation of secureboot/uefi

Just to say that the fact (if it is a fact) that "we are all gonna need to get used to uefi" is hardly a reason to keep windows! Why would you need to keep windows in order to learn about, use or "get used to" uefi? If you want to use uefi, fine. Just boot whatever OS or OSs you want in uefi mode. (Obviously there are limits to what is possible but Linux can certain boot in uefi mode.)

Re: Dell implementation of secureboot/uefi

Re: Dell implementation of secureboot/uefi

Yes that is exactly what I meant. I'd keep a windows7 partition for rare compatibility issues and because i paid the licence after all, but I think it's not uefi compatibile, so i should switch to legacy mode. The most important think for me is to get some distro on it, then windows can stay there almost unused...